The GoodTimesKid

The GoodTimes Kid has a whimsy, a passion, a sophistication and, above all, a vigor that's mostly drained out of Amerindie cinema over the last decade or so.

Mr. Jacobs's approach is descended from a long line of minimalist filmmakers, from Jacques Tati ("Monsieur Hulot's Holiday") up through Jim Jarmusch ("Mystery Train"), but The GoodTimesKid dances, like Diaz, in its own sweet style. It doesn't get to the point because getting there is the point.

Building his dry comedy out of a basic confusion of names, an Army recruitment slip and one man's curiosity, Jacobs creates a droll, meandering and defiantly uncommercial film.

The film's pared-down narrative is anything but aimless, and it pays off in a haunting final last scene scored with Gang of Four's "Damaged Goods."

Though the film never transcends its own neo-boho quirk, it concludes in a marvelous final shot: a long take set to Gang of Four, grungy and materialist in the Jacobs tradition.